All effective test teams typically have well defined processes, appropriate tools and resources with a variety of skills. However, teams cannot be successful if they place 100% dependency on the documented processes, as doing so leads to conflicts. Especially when testers use … Continue reading →

Throughout my career I have observed numerous organizations all looking for the ‘silver bullet’ to solve all their product quality problems. News Flash: There is no ‘silver bullet’. Solving product quality problems can only begin when organizations “Stop Testing and … Continue reading →

I recently interviewed Janet Gregory on the topic of distributed teams. Janet is the founder of DragonFire Inc., an agile quality process consultancy and training firm. Janet co-wrote the original book on agile testing “Agile Testing: A Practical Guide for … Continue reading →

I have noticed a shift in how companies are attempting to ensure quality and this is what has led me to write this post. Companies desperately want to achieve quality by simply creating automated tests. Why do they want this? … Continue reading →

I read with interest and appreciation the comments on the View from the Q blog about what not to do with respect to Performance Management. I have encountered reporting situations and the ultimate result is that more energy and effort is spent … Continue reading →

Before I started my career as a tester, I was a scientist doing research in particle physics, and my years in science trained me to be skeptical, inquisitive and open to new approaches. It was the idea of continuous learning … Continue reading →

Are gamers predisposed to careers in software testing? The prevalent perception seems to be that testers enjoy playing games more than the general population, and that playing games makes us better testers by honing cognitive skills, which especially important in … Continue reading →

Creating a great test team is a lot like gardening, you need to find the right seeds and make sure to plant them in an environment where they will germinate, grow and thrive. But what seeds do you look for, … Continue reading →

I started my testing career as part of a user group that did analysis, technical writing, training and testing in the Systems Department of an insurance company at a time when having nontechnical people involved in software development was very … Continue reading →